I am absolutely loving Tom Clancy's The Division and have been playing it solidly since I got it on Wednesday 9th of March and have put 30 hours into the game already.

Ok first up, the game world is massive it's a one to one recreation of Manhattan. It's amazing the level of detail in the game world and really feels like the real city and that it has been left in a hurry. This is set days after the outbreak and it shows in how the city has been abandoned with shops left open, rubbish bags everywhere at back doors because the trash men haven't been to collect it, cars, buses, trucks left in the middle of the roads. It also explains all those open car doors lol. Christmas decorations still up everywhere in the buildings and street lights. People wandering the streets lost and bewildered tired and hungry. Animals left to run the streets because there are no humans there to look after them.

The enemies are not really bad people they just don't trust the government in a dog eat dog world they have formed gangs to try and survive. I saw two gang members crouched by a dead body picking their pockets. My first instinct was to shoot them but they hadn't seen me and I stopped and thought to myself the guy is dead and they are not they are just out here trying to survive like the rest of us. I left them to it and went my seperate ways. I don't think a game as ever made me stop and look at game characters as actual human beings in the same manner before. It is all very believable and expertly crafted. This makes exploration a joy and it is the most interesting recreation of New York City I think I've ever seen in a game as good as Grand Theft Auto V in the level of detail, size and scope of the game world. I can imagine how amazing it would be in virtual reality like actually being there. I told my mum and dad about the game and gave them a virtual tour of Manhattan Island visiting lots of famous landmarks like Time Square, 7th Avenue, Broadway, Lincoln and Chelsea.

The gunplay is fantastic, really tactical but just like any good role playing game you have to use your weapons and skills effectively to outgun the AI who are very, very good. It plays like the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter games you have to suppress and flank the enemy and really think about the area and where the best cover and vantage points are. The AI will suppress and flank you as well as ones rushing in while you're pinned behind cover with baseball bats, shotguns or riot shields. This is like your typical RPG where mages and archers will attack from range and warriors rush in with swords and axes.

As for being repetitive, it isn't because the environment makes every encounter different because you have to scope out the best tactics to use and look around to figure out the best way to take out the enemy. Ive got a lot of experience with games like this because I love tactical military shooters with Tom Clancy's games being the best example of the genre in my opinion and also I was in the army in an infantry battalion and this is very realistic to how I was trained in the army to take out the enemy. This is what they mean by player vs environment.

The beauty of the Division is you can create 4 characters per save so if your friends are much higher level they can create a new character and start from the beginning with you and once you reach their level they can switch back to their main character and carry on. Also you can give them different stats and abilities much like any good RPG so you have a completely different gameplay experience. The Division is a class-less RPG meaning you can change your stats and abilities at any time in the menu to suite your playstyle and the mission ahead. Ive managed to do this several times mid-mission while getting attacked from enemies and switching to new abilities I need for the task at hand because the menu is so easy to bring up and switch weapons and abilities on the fly.

They also said they were going to release a patch that let you drop weapons for your friends to pick up like Borderlands something that I always said would make Destiny so much better. Also there are 2 free expansions one in April one in May before the paid DLC starts in June, July and August. If I'm still playing it in June that's 3 months so the season pass will be worthwhile. Also the free stuff until then will keep it fresh. 3 months of entertainment for £41.99 is brilliant value in my eyes so I wont mind paying £32.99 for more.

The DZ (Dark Zone) adds a whole new layer by introducing other real players who may be friend or foe and it plays on the human desire for greed and backstabbing people at the last minute to escape with all the loot. Those people are then known traitors or rogues as the game calls them and are marked men with a reward on their heads much like people would be in this type of apocalyptic scenario. The game whether DZ or normal Ive found to be great whether solo or with friends and outside the DZ is just coop with up to 4 people. I met a French man in matchmaking and we hit it off talking to each other over the headset so it is very good for making new friends online because they can't do anything mean to you outside the DZ other than abuse you over the mic which you can promptly kick them out of your group.

Me and the French fella, Medi is his name its Arabic, went rogue last night (Sunday 13th of March) as we spotted 2 other people looking for loot in a large car park there was a high walkway which we went up at first to hide from them as we didn't know if they would shoot us. Instead my mate said lets go rogue and snipe them from up here they won't know where we are. I was a little hesitant at first but he opened fire first so we both sniped them and threw smoke grenades so they didn't know where we were. I told my mate to cover me and used my turret on the walkway to help suppress them and dashed down the ladder and flanked them on the right without being seen and we took them out in seconds and they never even knew what hit them.

After that, we went to extract all of their gear we stole from them, I cant emphasise the word stole enough because that's exactly what we did, but were being hunted down by AI and real players and had to fend wave and wave of enemies off while we waited for the helicopter. The sense of achievement when we made it after extracting our ill gotten gains one at a time, covering each other, then we got killed after that but it didn't matter because we got the stuff out and left the DZ.

Then when we looked at what we collected and I felt very, very bad because we had stolen all the items they had currently equipped, as well as all the loot they had collected inside the dark zone. They must have felt very sad because of what we had done and it made me think about all the times people have been bad to me in an online game and indeed real life. Plus the stuff they had equipped must have been their best stuff and they were only level 10 while we were level 13 at the time so their best stuff was no good for us other than to break down for crafting parts and they had level 12 and 13 stuff collected from the DZ that they were probably looking forward to using once they levelled up and had worked very hard to get for themselves. Also level 10 is the minimum rank that allows you to enter the DZ so there is a very good chance it was their first time in the DZ and we may well have put them off from trying it again or indeed put them off the game entirely. I felt guilty as sin and I don't think I've ever felt like that in a game before towards other real people online.

In conclusion The Division is an excellent cover based military tactical third person shooter with an interesting apocalyptic setting in a massive and brilliantly realised recreation of Manhattan in New York City. With a addictive role playing game levelling and looting system and excellent customisation that is adaptive on the fly to suit both your favoured play style and the task at hand with a simple enough UI for new comers and seasoned RPG keyboard warriors to understand. The game's excellent AI and RPG like bullet sponge enemies make fire fights very challenging and having to adopt different tactics to try and outsmart them really makes you feel outnumbered and your best weapon is your wits and that of your team mates working together to effectively take out the enemy.

Good review...i am enjoying the game a lot as well,especially the Dark Zone.When you reach level 30 you get to play Daily Missions...and they are extremely difficult.You need 4 players to work together and help each other.

Great review.Enjoying this game so far. its a tough game to play on your own. the eniemes are tricky at times.Not been into the dark zone yet trying to get levelled up a bit before i venture over there.